Improvement in machine-guns



2 She'ets-Sheet 1. J. P. TAYLOR.

MACHINE-GUN. No 174=,872 Patented March 14, 1876.

m O u MM l! WVTNESSES INVENT g Y .mfrwys N PETERS. PHOTO-UTHOGRAFHER, WASHINGTON, D. C.

W! NESSES% 2 Sheets-Sheet 2. J. P. TAYLOR.

MACHINE-GUN. N0.17l,872. Patented March 14, 1876.

H. PETERS, PHOTO-LITHOGRAPMER WASH NGTON D C JAMES TAYLOR, OF ELIZABETHTON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF HISRIGHT A TO JOHN BAXTER, OF lKNOXVILLE, TENNESSEE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINE-GUNS.`

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 171l,8772, dated March 14, 1876 application tiled January l1, 1876. l I v To all whom t may concern Be it known that I, J Aivrns Pn'r'roN TAYLOR, of Elizabethton, inthe county of Carter and State of Tennessee, have invented a new and useful, Improvement in Machine Guns, of which the following is a specification:

My invention relates to machine guns, whether made with one or any number of barrels, having a reciprocating plunger or plungers working, in connection with the barrel or barrels, to introduce the successive cartridges into the ring-chamber, withdraw and discharge the empty shell, .and permitv or cause the delivery from a suitable hopper of a new cartridge, which is, in turn, introduced into the barrel, as before.

My improvements are specially intended for use in connection with the system of machineguns described in two other applications which I have already made for Letters Patent, in which a series ot' barrels is mounted either in a horizontal plane or in the arc of a cylinder, and are made to discharge in succession by revolving cams, or a rotating spirallygrooved cylinder operating on locks or plungers, one for each barrel; In connection with the aforesaid locks or plungers I employ oscillating feed-valves, in pairs, which, by the motion of the locks, are caused to open and close below and above alternately, so vas to receive cartridges one by one from the hopper, deliver them to th'e trough below, from which they are forced by the lock into the barrel, and to discharge the empty shells when retracted from the barrel. The said valves work on longitudinal pivots, are iuted at the top to form aA concave seat for the cartridge, which is to be delivered from the corresponding throat of the hopper above, and are provided on their inside with concave springs to support the point of the cartridge in line with the center of the barrels bore. The lock, plunger, or follower carries retracting claws or hookson its front end above and below, adapted to spring over the flange of the cartridge, the upper claw being also operated by a sliding cam-plate acted upon by stops near the termination of each stroke of the lock.

This cam-plate is formed with an inclined slot, which, at the end of the backl stroke of the lock, by acting on a-pin in the retracting claw, raises the said clawl and releases the head of the cartridge-shell. plate is'formed, also, at .its front en d below with a downward-projecting lip or point, Y;

which, after the retracting-hook hasbeen raised, strikes, in its forward motion, the rear f of the cartridge-head, and imparts to the falling shell a greatly-accelerated motion. Just before this expulsion of the shell takes place the 'enlarged front end ofthe lower retracting-hook, in'its backward movement, engages with corresponding projections or cam-surfaces on the oscillating valves, forcing open the under side of the said valves, and thus permitting the falling shell to drop through.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section of a portionot the breech with the locks removed. Fig. 2 is a similar view with the lock in retracted position, showing a cartridge shell falling from the gun. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the line 3 3, Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a vertical longitudinal section, showing the lock retracted. and a cartridge in-readiness to be inserted in the barrel. Fig. 5 is a transverse section on the line 5 5, Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a vertical. longitudinal section,-showing the lock advanced and the cartridge within the barrel in position for `firing, and `representing thev lock partly in section, so as to exhibit the cartridge-extractor within the upper part thereof. Fig. 7 is a transverse section on the line 7 7, Fig. 6. Fig. 8 is a plan or top View of the lock with the top plate thereof removed.A

Fig. 9 is a rear perspective view of the one member of the housings or frame in which the cartridge-valves are mounted, as hereinafter described. Fig. 10 is a perspective view of the upper cartridge-extractor. Fig. l1 is a perspective view of theslotted camplate fory operating the same.

The barrels 1 may be arranged in a horizontal plane, and connected to a breech,`2

consisting ot' plates and bars 7, as I have described in another application for Letters Pat- The said cament. Portions of the operating cams or eccentrics 8 are shown at Figs, 2" and 6, and the locks guided between the plates 7 and actuated by the -eccentrics 8, as described in my other application above referred to. The connections between the operating cams or eccentrics8 and the locks 9, as Well as other details not herein specifically described, may likewise be constructed and arranged as described in my other application.A For the purpose. of effecting the successive deliveryr of the cartridges one at a time from the hopper 44, (see my other application, filedSeptember l0, 1875, case A,) and also for introducing them successively to the troughs of the breech behind the respective barrels, so thatV they may be loaded by the forward movelment of the locks-9, I employ in each place a pair of oscillating feed-valves, 62, adapted to open labove and below alternately, so as to receive a cartridge from above at one stroke, and dischargethe ,uniired cartridge or the empty shell, as the case may be, at the other stroke.

For'the purpose of illustration, I will describe this device in its application to the purpose of supplying cartridges in succession to the barrels l and discharging the empty shells. a skilled mechanic to adapt the same device to the hopper for supplying or delivering the cartridges one at a time upon the tops of the valves.

To the top of each lock or plunger 9 is attached a guiding-plate, 26.' At -the forward end of each lock 9, above and below, is a pair of extractor claws or hooks, 63 and 64, the lower one of which, 64, is 'made simply to spring over the flange of the cartridge and engage therewith. The upper claw or hook 63 is likewise adapted to spring over and engage with the cartrideilange, as illustrated in Fig. 6, atv the termination of the forward stroke of the lock. It is formed with a bifurcated extremity, and provided with apin, 65, passing transversely across the space between its two ends, and through the inclined slot 66 of 'the cam-plate 67, which moves in the said space. with a iiange, 68, by which it is guided in a horizontal path. 'It is formed, also, with a' downward-projecting lip or point which fits a recess in the front end of the lock 9, and which serves to impart an increased momentum tothe released cartridgeshell while in the act of falling from the gun. The shell is thus expelled by a positive agency. From one edge of the ange 68 projects a horizon-- tal stud, 69, which works in a groove or slot,

70, inthe face of one of the valve-frames, and comes in contact with the ends of the said groove, which serve as suitable stops, which arrest the motion of the cam-plate just before the termination of each forward and backward'stroke of the lock, and cause a relative This will in great part enable The cam-plate 67 is formed at the top lmovement between the lock and cam-plate,

which has the effect of raising the hook. 63 at4 the end of the backward stroke of the lock,

,expelling the empty shell, and of dropping versed in the adaptation by widening the cam-plate and narrowing the extractor, so`as toallow the plate tostraddle the extractor by means of a longitudinal slot in the said plate instead of the extractor.

62 62 represent concave valves, gates, or feeders, arranged iny pairs and oscillating on pivots ,71,y so as tof alternately close at the bottom to form a trough or'cradlefor the receptionl of the cartridge and open for the discharge of the empty shell. The closing of the bottom of the valvesris effected by the pressure of the sides of the lock at front between bev- 'end of the lower extractor-hooky 64, press against projections 75 on the lower vedges of the valves and force them apart, so as to allow the empty shell to fall through. The tops 474 of' the valves are fluted to allow the point of thev cartridge to fall as l'ow as possible before the valves are opened above, in

order to prevent the danger of the ball catching and jamming againstA the upper part of the barrel. i.

This device possesses the great advantage of facilitating and hasteningv the delivery of the cartridge and Adischarging the empty shell by positive movements, and is, therefore, more promptv and reliable in its operation than any device depending wholly on springs `and gravity."

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The oscillating feed-valves constructed with luted concave or beveled upper parts 74, as and for the purpose set forth.

` 2. The combination, in a machine-gun, of a` reciprocating lock or plunger and a pair of oscillating valves constructed and operating, substantially as herein described, to receivea cartridge from a feeding device above at one stroke and discharge the empty shell at the other stroke, and with supporting wings or iianges 7 4 at top to sustain the next successive /enu cartridge While the bottom is opened to dis- 5. The cartridgeextractor 63 64 and sliding charge the empty shell. cam-plate 67,combined to operate substantially 3. The combination, with the feed-valves, as and for the purposes herein described.

of the springs 72, for supporting` the point of the cartridge. JAMES PATTON TAYLOR.

4. The combination of the sliding locks or plungers, the oscillating valves, and the tap- Witnesses:

pets or projections for operating said valves, F. P. MCWIMEY,

substantially as set forth. J. F. ROGERS. 

